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Original Elf on A Shelf Before It Was Popular

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The Elf on a Shelf Craze

Original Elf on a ShelfThe Elf on A Shelf craze seems to be everywhere, but Santa’s little helper isn’t new.

My grandmother gave me a small knee hugger elf to hang on the tree in the 1960’s, it is one of the few things I have from my Dads’ Mom and I don’t even remember meeting her. All I know is the little pixie with the bell on top was one of my favorite ornaments.

My Mother in law really gets into the Christmas elves. About 20 knee-hugger Christmas elves in various poses sit around miniature Christmas trees in her window.

These little guys don’t get into mischief and they don’t tattle to Santa. They are just cute and whimsical.

Large Elf on a Shelf

They came in various sizes, the large ones were 14″ and designed to sit on a shelf, but the small ones were meant to hide on the Christmas tree and sometimes they moved around.

I love the faces on these vintage Elves, the new ones just don’t have the same personality. You can almost see the mischief in his eyes below.

Start an Elf on a Shelf Tradition in Your House

If you don’t have vintage knee-hugger Christmas elves in your house you can start a new tradition with your kids at Christmas. You can create your own story, your own version of Santa and how his elves help Santa with Christmas. Here are just a few options for the modern and up to date Elf on a Shelf Dolls.

Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition (blue-eyed girl scout elf)Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition (blue-eyed girl scout elf)Elf on the Shelf Pets ReindeerElf on the Shelf Pets ReindeerElf on the Shelf Scout Elves At Play KitElf on the Shelf Scout Elves At Play KitElf on the Shelf Pet Pack - Reindeer and Saint Bernard Elf Pets - Direct From North Pole in Official Santa Gift BoxElf on the Shelf Pet Pack – Reindeer and Saint Bernard Elf Pets – Direct From North Pole in Official Santa Gift Box

Red Elf on a Shelf

Elf on a Shelf Craze

Cute Elf on a Shelf

Retro is in, what is old is new again.

The famous fairy became popular again with the 2004 Elf on a Shelf book. The posable and posable red and white elf now reports to Santa if the kids in the house have been naughty or nice. All the time the Elf is creating mischief. Maybe its to show the kids what they “should not” do.

It’s more of the elf being naughty when he’s away from Santa. The internet is full of the pixie making a mess with cereal, unrolling the bathroom tissue, and getting in compromising positions.

The Real Life Elf on a Shelf

My friend Andrew gets into the holiday spirit not just during Christmas but his costumes are famous all year round on airplanes, hotels and out and about in Omaha Nebraska.

In December he dresses as a life-size Elf on the Shelf and greets by kids young and old at the airport as he flies around the country as a photographer. Parents take pictures of him with their kids, and he loves to hear the whispers and giggles as he hames it up.

Andrew takes selfies of himself as the naughty elf pushing all the buttons on the elevator and getting trouble with bubble wrap.  But mostly he’s just bringing smiles to people from the photo lab, to those in his condo. I really believe he just has fun dressing as an Elf and enjoys every day to it’s fullest.

Andrew also dresses as Cupid on Valentine’s day and is the Breast Cancer Awareness “Pink Man” on Delta flights during October.

Life size Elf on a Shelf played by Andrew Dean

I don’t know how popular this new craze of dressing as a life-size elf will become.

I’ve seen a post about “renting an Elf on a Shelf” for your party (I’m sure Andrew would do that), and I’ve seen the baby Elf posed in various places by his Father who is a photographer, but there will be only one true live Elf on a Shelf for me and that’s the one above with the oversized imagination and love of life.

Elf on a Shelf Costume

If you or your friends want to bring the Elf on the Shelf magic and fun to your Holiday season the costume can be found on Amazon. I would love to see pictures of your adventures, or even photos of a vintage elf from your childhood.

Correcting White Balance in Snow Photography

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Winter in Nebraska can be fickle. We can have a season of blizzards, or just a couple of big snow storms that dump 8-12 inches a few times during the season. This year we have had no big snow storms, just a slight dusting at Christmas time, enough to say we had a white Christmas and nothing more.

The news is full of winter storm watches, bitter cold and above average snow falls from Chicago to New England, but nothing in Nebraska. So I’ve gone back into my archive photography files to get a taste of a snowy winter. The year is 2012 and in February we had a really nice, slow snowfall that coated everything. I went out with a camera I just got for Christmas, my oldest Marine son gave me his Canon Rebel before he deployed, and took photo after photo of the amazing scenery.

I have since started shooting in RAW and editing in Lightroom, so I thought I would rework a photo to see how I can improve on it now.

Winter snow on the plow
1. Before SOOC
Snow on the plow
2. After: crop, white balance, edited in Lightroom
Lightroom photo edit: snow on the plow
Click on image to see Lightroom details in editing.

First I cropped the original to a 5×7 and zoomed in a little closer. Then set the white balance in Lightroom by using the eyedropper on the snow, this eliminated the greenish cast. I also increased the highlights, clarity and contrast to give more texture. Below is horizontal crop version where I applied noise reduction. Since this image was originally a JPG shot at 400 ISO I thought it could use some smoothing out.

Which do you like the best, 1,2 or 3?

Winter farm storage
3. Horizontal crop with Lightroom noise reduction

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Covered Bridges in Vermont

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Vermont has more covered bridges per square mile than any other state in the United States. An official covered bridge is not determined by age, but the method on how it is built, by trusses and a covered slanted roof. I have always had a fascination with covered bridges and although I had grown up in Connecticut I had never walked across one this piece of Americana.

Middle Bride in Woodstock, VT
Covered bridge in Woodstock Vermont

Last week I crossed this off my bucket list when I visited Woodstock Vermont and walked across Middle Bridge. I had another surprise as we took the scenic route down Rte 106 and found this picturesque bridge over a small creek.

Covered Bridge south of Woodstock Vermont
Covered Bridge south of Woodstock Vermont

The most famous bridges are those of Madison County in Iowa, so I really didn’t need to travel far from Nebraska to find covered bridges, but there is something special, romantic, and mystical about covered bridges in Vermont.

Facts About Covered Bridges

  1. First covered bridge was built in 1808 over the Mohawk river in New York
  2. Vermont contains 100 authentic covered bridges
  3. At one time the United States has over 10,000 covered bridges, 750 remain today
  4. Covered bridges are painted red because iron ochre was an inexpensive pigment.
  5. Bridges were covered to prevent the wood dry and prevent rot (not to keep horses from spooking over the water)
  6. Town Lattice is the most popular style of covered bridge
  7. There are only 8 railroad covered bridges in the United States, only 2 still function during tourist events.
  8. Only six covered bridges still carry two way traffic all the rest are one way only.
  9. Covered bridges can be found in 30 states in the United States
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